The last decade has seen tremendous advances made in LC columns and column technology. From the development of the pellicular packings in the late 1960s to the 5- to 10-�m microparticles of the 1970s, the column has not only increased the speed, resolution, and sensitivity of the technique, but has also influenced the design of instrumentation. The development of LC columns has reached a state where we are beginning at last to understand their advantages and disadvantages, their properties, their limitations, their optimum use, as well as their occasional misuse. The purpose of this chapter is to review the development of HPLC column technology, to summarize the current state of affairs, and to briefly extrapolate into the future.
